The 2011 Changchun Ice and Snow Festival and the Jingyuetan Vasaloppet International Skiing Festival have been kicked off in Changchun, the capital city of Jilin Province, and will last to March 6.

 

More than 5,000 participants from 21 countries, including China, Sweden, the USA and Russia, showed up at a grand opening ceremony.

 

During the 14th festival, four events, namely, Ice and Snow Tourism, Ice and Snow Sport, Ice and Snow Culture and Ice and Snow Trade will be held, encompassing 66 varied activities. In the meantime, four ice and snow scenic areas, Jingyue Lake, Lianhua Mountain, Xinli Lake, and Miaoxiang Mountain, and three ice and snow amusement parks Changchun Agriculture Expo Park, Nanhu Ice and Snow Amusement Park, and Northeast China Culture & Ice and Snow Amusement Park will be opened to the visitors, one after another.

 

The Vasaloppet International Skiing Festival, which is the most popular skiing event in Northern Europe, was introduced into China in 2003, making the country the fourth to hold the festival, after Sweden, the USA, and Japan.

 

These two festivals are expected to further boost Jilin's winter travel market and to consolidate the province's ice- and snow-based travel brand.